Drug-addled UVF mobster Darren Moore lucky to be alive after crossbow attack
Darren Moore pictured in his hospital bed today. UVF killer Darren' Judas'Moore had both his legs and arms sharttered in a savage attack last night(friday).
PACEMAKER BELFAST 14/09/2011 Darren Moore arrives at Court as 14 men are appear in Belfast Court charged in connection of the Murder of Tommy English. Nine alleged UVF men, including former leading member Mark Haddock, are charged with the murder of UDA leader Tommy English in October 2000. They and another five alleged UVF men also face a range of other charges. Photo Pacemaker Press
Moore pictured in his hospital bed in 2013 after a previous attack
Drug-addled UVF mobster Darren Moore is in hospital after being shot in the face with a crossbow bolt, the Sunday World can reveal.
The 54-year-old gangster is lucky to be alive after the bolt pierced his cheek, exiting below the jawline, during an incident at a house in Ballymena on Friday evening.
We have seen evidence of how close Moore came to death.
The sequence of events remains unclear but the Sunday World understands he was targeted in an ongoing dispute with rival criminals over a drug deal that had gone wrong.
Sources in Ballymena have also told us the incident took place after Moore and a group of others were taking drugs — believed to be heroin and fentanyl — although there have been no reports of any drugs being recovered by police.
Mark Haddock
A 42-year-old man was arrested after the crossbow attack and is in PSNI custody for questioning in relation to a number of offences.
Darren Moore
News in 90 seconds - 10th August 2025
This latest incident is yet another stage in what has been a downward spiral for the one-time feared terror chief, who once had a stellar Irish League soccer career.
In recent months he has been in the headlines for a series of shoplifting charges.
Desperate to fuel his chronic drug addiction, he now has a number of convictions for stealing food and other items from supermarkets.
His hauls include, on one occasion, 20 legs of lamb and variously other food items as well as bedding, pots and pans, alcohol and scented Yankee candles.
It has been a dramatic fall from grace for Moore, who immediately became a target for disaffected UVF members when he was kicked out of the organisation. Terror boss John 'Bunter' Graham washed his hands of him and a price was put on his head.
UVF outcast Moore is a marked man and this is not the first time has had a brush with death in recent years.
Drummed out of the paramilitary organisation, he has been running the gauntlet of numerous threats to his life.
Stripped of UVF protection, he has cheated death in a series of attacks, some of which have landed him in hospital.
Moore pictured in his hospital bed in 2013 after a previous attack
In 2013 he was left for dead after a savage attack which left him with broken legs and arms.
A battered Moore was found in the grounds of a north Belfast primary school. He had been badly beaten with what police believe was a claw hammer, and had both his arms and legs broken in the vicious attack.
From the heights of lifting the Irish League championship with Crusaders and lording it as a ruthless paramilitary boss, he is reduced to a broken shell of a drug addict.
Moore was once king of the hill. As a leading figure in the notorious UVF unit in Mount Vernon he had a reputation for violence.
Along with Mount Vernon commander Mark Haddock, he ran a highly lucrative drug-running operation and is credited with flooding north Belfast with heroin.
The gang operated with impunity as they were all paid RUC Special Branch agents. The unit is believed to have been responsible for up to 14 murders in a sectarian killing spree in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Many of the killings were carried out with the full knowledge of their police handlers.
It was only when the wholesale collusion was uncovered by then Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan in her 2007 report that the unit was finally shut down.
All members were stood down after previously being protected by the UVF leadership.
It is claimed that Moore was linked to the gang who brutally murdered Raymond McCord Jnr in 1997.
Raymond (22) had been summoned to a meeting at a remote quarry on the outskirts of the city.
Seeking assurances from Moore — a man he considered a friend — he was encouraged to go, believing he would be on the wrong end of a punishment attack at worst.
Instead he was battered to death on the orders of Haddock.
Last night Raymond McCord Snr told the Sunday World he was not surprised Moore had been targeted.
CCTV footage of an attack on Darren Moore
'Moore has more enemies than any man I know. He's a marked man with a bounty on his head, someone was always going to try and cash that in,' he said.
'He's a typical Mount Vernon coward, he liked to dish out violence as long as the UVF mob was with him.
'The coward he is and the organisation he belonged to are finished. He set up my son Raymond Jnr to be murdered. Whatever happens to him, he has brought on himself — he hasn't a friend in the world.'
In 2018 five men were jailed for their parts in another attack on Moore as he drank in a bar in the Co. Antrim village of Doagh the previous year.
Ten men were involved in what was described in court as an 'almighty beating'' and was believed to have been a revenge attack in relation to an earlier incident involving Moore. So severe was that attack, which involved the use of a claw hammer, that a baseball bat broke in two as Moore was battered while lying on the ground.
Raymond McCord the father of Raymond McCord Junior
The Sunday World revealed at the time that Moore had pleaded with 'Bunter' Graham to be allowed back into the UVF ranks. But having been turned down, he went to police offering himself up as a supergrass.
His approaches were rejected and he was hammered.
Yesterday the PSNI confirmed the incident in which Moore was shot with a crossbow.
div id="qs_newsletter_sundayworld">
They said: 'Police received a report of an incident in the Glenarm Court area of Ballymena at 6.40pm on Friday, 8th August.
'One man aged in his 50s has been taken to hospital for treatment to injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening.
'A 42-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences.
'There is no ongoing risk to the public. However, officers remain at the scene at this time.'
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The bolt pierced his cheek, exiting below the jawline, during an incident at a house in Ballymena on Friday evening Darren Moore pictured in his hospital bed today. UVF killer Darren' Judas'Moore had both his legs and arms sharttered in a savage attack last night(friday). PACEMAKER BELFAST 14/09/2011 Darren Moore arrives at Court as 14 men are appear in Belfast Court charged in connection of the Murder of Tommy English. Nine alleged UVF men, including former leading member Mark Haddock, are charged with the murder of UDA leader Tommy English in October 2000. They and another five alleged UVF men also face a range of other charges. Photo Pacemaker Press Moore pictured in his hospital bed in 2013 after a previous attack Drug-addled UVF mobster Darren Moore is in hospital after being shot in the face with a crossbow bolt, the Sunday World can reveal. 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Moore pictured in his hospital bed in 2013 after a previous attack In 2013 he was left for dead after a savage attack which left him with broken legs and arms. A battered Moore was found in the grounds of a north Belfast primary school. He had been badly beaten with what police believe was a claw hammer, and had both his arms and legs broken in the vicious attack. From the heights of lifting the Irish League championship with Crusaders and lording it as a ruthless paramilitary boss, he is reduced to a broken shell of a drug addict. Moore was once king of the hill. As a leading figure in the notorious UVF unit in Mount Vernon he had a reputation for violence. Along with Mount Vernon commander Mark Haddock, he ran a highly lucrative drug-running operation and is credited with flooding north Belfast with heroin. The gang operated with impunity as they were all paid RUC Special Branch agents. The unit is believed to have been responsible for up to 14 murders in a sectarian killing spree in the 1990s and early 2000s. Many of the killings were carried out with the full knowledge of their police handlers. It was only when the wholesale collusion was uncovered by then Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan in her 2007 report that the unit was finally shut down. All members were stood down after previously being protected by the UVF leadership. It is claimed that Moore was linked to the gang who brutally murdered Raymond McCord Jnr in 1997. Raymond (22) had been summoned to a meeting at a remote quarry on the outskirts of the city. Seeking assurances from Moore — a man he considered a friend — he was encouraged to go, believing he would be on the wrong end of a punishment attack at worst. Instead he was battered to death on the orders of Haddock. Last night Raymond McCord Snr told the Sunday World he was not surprised Moore had been targeted. CCTV footage of an attack on Darren Moore 'Moore has more enemies than any man I know. He's a marked man with a bounty on his head, someone was always going to try and cash that in,' he said. 'He's a typical Mount Vernon coward, he liked to dish out violence as long as the UVF mob was with him. 'The coward he is and the organisation he belonged to are finished. He set up my son Raymond Jnr to be murdered. Whatever happens to him, he has brought on himself — he hasn't a friend in the world.' In 2018 five men were jailed for their parts in another attack on Moore as he drank in a bar in the Co. Antrim village of Doagh the previous year. Ten men were involved in what was described in court as an 'almighty beating'' and was believed to have been a revenge attack in relation to an earlier incident involving Moore. So severe was that attack, which involved the use of a claw hammer, that a baseball bat broke in two as Moore was battered while lying on the ground. 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